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- Verified Buyer
I was looking to secure a kitchen island with two drawers and two cabinet doors that open into a shared space (liquor cabinet and sharp knives). I didn't want to have keyed locks that would be visible and pondered magnetic child locks, but went with these. Bought one to test and bought 3 more once I saw how it worked. Due to the nature of this lock and tongue latch being all on the inside and having to align perfectly, this is a tricky install.First, I needed to glue supporting brackets to each install of the tongues, then install the locks. I did the cabinet door installations first as I could access them from the other side with the door closed. The first one took me an hour as I tweaked the alignment. The second took 20 minutes. The doors are just shy of 1/2" and they worked as expected.The drawers, however, were quite challenging. It took quite a bit of time working out the alignment and depth of the tongue to fit with the base of the drawers. I got one done, tested it, and could not reliably get it to open (maybe 1 out of 10 tries). I had programmed the large white card as the master two blue fobs to be used regularly. The master card would work most of the time, but the fobs would not. The drawer wall plus the outer face measured in at 1-1/16" thickness. Despite the claim of 1.2" max, it would not work.I took the base apart to see if I could improve things with the RFID antenna. it's connected by very thin/fragile wires. I debated on routing these out of the base, but knew I would regret it if I damaged the wires. Decided to cut out the back of the plastic to see if I could gain reception. It didn't work. Finally had to cut out the inside wall of the drawer to fit the base. I also had to cut a notch out of the back wall of the drawer to clear the inside tongue latch. On the front side, this left the same 1/2" thickness as the cabinets which worked perfectly. I probably spent 3 hours on all of this. On the last drawer, I finally knew how to align everything and what cuts to make. That one took an hour.Knowing what I know now, the hardest part is getting the alignment and depth correct. If I had to do over here's how I would install:- With the cards programmed, I would engage the tongue latch and figure out the how close the base has to be toward the edge to have the tongue flat when installed on the cabinet side. Attach the base.- With the base in place, mark on the cabinet side where the center of the base receiver aligns. That's your side to side alignment for the tongue.- The tongue has 2 center screw holes. One is a static and one is oval where you can slide it to adjust the depth. However, it only gives around 1/8" of play, which is not enough. Use a drill and cut out the wall between the static screw hole and the oval, giving it more play to the depth. Through some trial and error of tightening it, you can get to the exact depth you need. (To the manufacturer I would recommend making this one large sliding oval.)- When you find the correct depth, secure it with two screws on each side.Now done, I'm very pleased with the function of these. It provides the security I wanted with a clean look. These are kitchen cabinets, so they could certainly be pried open. However, that's not what I was trying to prevent. I knew it was going to be a difficult install, and it was, but I still give this 5 stars. Also, I have the same master card and two fobs programmed for each lock. Left me with 3 cards and 6 fobs extra.My 3 Star rating is really 3.5 Stars based on the following: 5 stars for performance, 5 stars for price, 3 stars for design and 1 star for installation/instructions. I love this cabinet lock and will probably buy more as the need arises. It is fairly priced and does what it supposed to do as advertised. On the other hand, unless your are a skilled handyman, you better hire someone to install it. The instructions that come with the unit are poorly written and miss the most important feature of any mechanical instruction: dimensional specs and a clear picture of how to proceed. What should be a 15 minute (or less) installation will take you more than an hour even if you’re a skilled do-it-yourself-er. All this, of course, could have been avoided by simply providing an appropriate cardboard or plastic template with holes for installation. As it is, you will be forced to make your own template or try to follow the “recommended” sticky-tape instructions which is a nightmare in itself because of the design of the unit. First, the mounting screws for the lock body are hidden under the batteries. That means that to mark the wholes for mounting, you have to remove the batteries, but if you do, you cannot separate the lock body from the latch. So you have to keep adding and removing the batteries during installation. Second, the reset-button is hidden against the side of the the mounting surface, so if you change your mind about setting up the lock, you have to remove the lock and reinstall it again. Setting up the lock is, in itself, a mystery since the unit comes with two “management cards” and two “tags” (key fobs). Instead of being able to use any one of these to unlock the cabinet you have to configure the card to set up the other fobs. (I gave up trying to figure it out, so am using only one of the fobs which means that if I loose it, I can’t use the other ones. Eventually I’ll figure it out.) In summary, this lock is a great product IF you are patient enough to put up with a truly Chinese installation puzzle or willing to spend the money for hired help.This is an update to my earlier review. I changed my ratings from 3.5 to 5 stars. Upon buying my second ID-Lock the instructions that came with the unit were 100% better. The lock I already found excellent in my first review but now, I also find the company highly responsive to customers' needs. Good job!It took me a few tries to get this gadget on right, because I am not one to measure things and I put it in the wrong spot. However after a few tries it works great. I put it on a small 3 drawer office cabinet for my essential oils and it worked fine. I liked it so much that I decided to remove it and put it on a portable jewelry styled box that happens to fit my essential oils better. Wow my essential oil box holds 30 or more oil containers and the lock is undetectable from the outside. Its perfect and this lock is a great way to make use of those old wood containers and jewelry boxes. I ordered another one for my 3 drawer mini office cabinet too. If you want a secure stash box or cabinet then this gadget is for you. Its easily programmed with multiple cards or for single use. I suggest that you program multiple card just in the case you loose a card otherwise you may have to break a door to get in. Plus know that if you need to change the batteries or reset the cards then you will need to unlock the door first then unscrew the box then remove the batteries and/or push the reset button.I tried this gadget on my kitchen lower cabinet doors and it will work; however the top drawer comes out so anyone can get into the cabinet from above if they pull out the drawer. That means I would need to get one for the drawer too and this particular gadget does not fit my drawers comfortably due to a ledge. I chose not to add a piece of wood to the drawer. The other cabinets have two doors so I do not want to buy two gadgets for those. That is something you may want to consider before purchasing this item. If you have double door then buy two locks or purchase an inside latch to put on the opposite door held in place when closed by this lock.
